Purnell's resignation letter in full
Peter Hoskin 10:22pm
Courtesy of the Sun:
Dear GordonWe both love the Labour Party.
I have worked for it for twenty years and you for far longer. We know we owe it everything and it owes us nothing.
I owe it to our Party to say what I believe no matter how hard that may. I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more not less likely
That would be disastrous for our country. This moment calls for stronger regulation, an active state, better public services, an open democracy.It calls for a government that measures itself by how it treats the poorest in society. Those are our values, not David Cameron's.
We therefore owe it to our country to give it a real choice. We need to show that we are prepared to fight to be a credible government and have the courage to offer an alternative future.
I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our Party a fighting chance of winning. And as such I am resigning from Government.
The Party was here long before us, and we want it to be here long after we have gone. We must do the right thing by it.I am not seeking the leadership, nor acting with anyone else. My actions are my own considered view, nothing more.
If the consensus is that you should continue, then I will support the government loyally from the backbenches. But I do believe that this question now needs to be put.Thank you for giving me the privilege of serving.
Yours
Rt Hon James Purnell MP
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Flipper the dolphin
June 4th, 2009 10:28pm Report this commentGood riddance.
Jonathan
June 4th, 2009 10:31pm Report this commentwow - this is big.
RMH
June 4th, 2009 10:34pm Report this commentDear Loser
You smell and we want rid of it.
Yours
The world
BrianSJ
June 4th, 2009 10:34pm Report this commentWell, it has got full stops but not much by way of grammar.
Andy Leeds
June 4th, 2009 10:35pm Report this commentBugger the Labour Party. He should have resigned for love of Country.
Hysteria
June 4th, 2009 10:36pm Report this commentso that's it then - Game Over....
TrevorsDen
June 4th, 2009 10:36pm Report this comment"This moment calls for stronger regulation, an active state, better public services, an open democracy."
Whats all this?
Is he saying that after 12 years of labour we still need better public services and a more open democracy?
An active state? Bloody Hell, we have had nothing but more and more state interference and targets from labour for 12 years!
And 'stronger regulation' ? How many thousands of new laws and regulations has Labour put on the statute book over the last 12 years.
If this is the reason for resigning he is as delusional as Brown.
Oscar
June 4th, 2009 10:39pm Report this commentSearing stuff, complete with full stops. This could be Gordon's full stop. I've always been deeply sceptical about Purnell and the Speccie's support for him. But I have to hand it to him - the man has cojones.
Tankus
June 4th, 2009 10:47pm Report this commentBritish comedy at its finest
Verity
June 4th, 2009 10:54pm Report this commentThat would be disastrous for our country. This moment calls for stronger regulation, an active state, better public services, an open democracy.
I don't know how Gordon Brown feels about James Purnell, but he scares the hell out of me.
Edmund Jerk
June 4th, 2009 11:08pm Report this commentGod they still speak like pinkos in private!
Jo_Norway
June 4th, 2009 11:23pm Report this commentIt is telling that when Labour ministers resign they first refer to themselves, their position and loyalty relative to the Party (Capital P and all, just like in countries where Party=State. Their Utopia perhaps?), not the country.
Career politicians know that the Party has the power, not the people. This is what has corrupted the Labour party more than anything.
Jeremy
June 5th, 2009 1:09am Report this commentBlair never mastered the basics of spelling, Brown can't punctuate and this bloke has got the prose style of a literate six year-old.
"This moment calls for stronger regulation, an active state..."
And this, I take it, is a letter from Planet Socialism - where it is always time for "...stronger regulation, an active state..."
Hysteria
June 5th, 2009 1:32am Report this commentand what TrevorsdDen and Verity said.....
Roger Thornhill
June 5th, 2009 10:01am Report this commentGood job he did not get Education, then - the letter is a shocker.
As others have said, he is in Government to serve the Country, not The Party. I am glad we are rid of him, the nasty twerp.
We have not seen the last of this man; mark my words.
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